Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 1-1-2017 The Digestive Composition And Physiology Of Water Mites Adrian Amelio Vasquez Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the Physiology Commons Recommended Citation Vasquez, Adrian Amelio, "The Digestive Composition And Physiology Of Water Mites" (2017). Wayne State University Dissertations. 1887. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1887 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. THE DIGESTIVE COMPOSITION AND PHYSIOLOGY OF WATER MITES by ADRIAN AMELIO VASQUEZ DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2017 MAJOR: PHYSIOLOGY Approved By: Advisor Date © COPYRIGHT BY ADRIAN AMELIO VASQUEZ 2017 All Rights Reserved DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my beautiful wife and my eternal companion. Together we have seen what is impossible become possible! ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has been a long journey to get to this point and it is impossible to list all the people who contributed to my story. For those that go unnamed please receive my sincerest gratitude. I thank my mentor and friend Dr. Jeffrey Ram. I was able to culminate my academic training in his lab and it has been a great blessing working with him and members of the lab. We look forward to many more years of collaboration. My committee took time out of their busy schedules to help me in achieving this milestone. The Physiology staff is second to none. I thank my parents for their unwavering support. I thank the parents of my wife and the community which they lead. We are extremely fortunate for the support of extended family in Michigan and elsewhere. Thanks to the global community of friends that also provided support. Specific work could not have been done without the assistance of generous collaborators. Ashley Dowling and Ray Fisher (University of Arkansas) guided us on collection and identification of water mites. Patrick Hudson and his team at USGS assisted in collecting and identification of chironomids and copepods. Dr. David Cook graciously invited me to his house where he shared his expertise. Katherine Gurdziel assisted with important bioinformatics. Gary, C.J., Ron, and Joe at the USDA lab in Beltsville, MD also provided tremendous support. We are also grateful for the funding agencies who provided much needed assistance in completing the many different projects. These include the EPA, IMSD NIH training program, Dr. Ikuko Kato, the Physiology Department, the Wayne State University Graduate School, Office of the Vice President for Research, Stellar Links Internet Company, the Sharon Ram Award for Aquatic Research, the Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit, and our latest donation from Dr. David Cook and an anonymous donor. I thank God for all the opportunities I was given without which nothing would have happened. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1 - Introduction to Water Biodiversity and Physiology .....................................................1 Biodiversity of Water Mites in the Laurentian Great Lakes ....................................................1 Life History and Ecological Roles of Water Mites ..................................................................3 Physiology of Water Mites .......................................................................................................5 Chapter 2 – Molecular DNA Barcodes of Water Mites ...................................................................9 Preface ......................................................................................................................................9 Section A: New Molecular Barcodes of Water Mites (Trombidiformes: Hydrachnidiae) from the Toledo Harbor Region of Western Lake Erie, U.S.A. with First Barcodes for Krendowskia (Krendowskiidae) and Koenikea (Unionicolidae). ........................................................................................................9 Abstract ..............................................................................................................................4 Introduction ......................................................................................................................10 Methods ............................................................................................................................11 Results ..............................................................................................................................13 Discussion ........................................................................................................................16 Section B: Water Mites of Blue Heron Lagoon. ....................................................................17 Abstract ............................................................................................................................17 Introduction ......................................................................................................................18 Materials and Methods .....................................................................................................20 Results ..............................................................................................................................21 Discussion ........................................................................................................................26 Chapter 3 - Focus on Lebertia (Acari: Hydrachnidia; Lebertiidae): Distinctive Morphology of iv Lebertia quinquemaculosa and Lebertia ..................................................................30 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................30 Introduction ............................................................................................................................30 Materials and Methods ...........................................................................................................33 Results and Discussion ...........................................................................................................34 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................43 Chapter 4 - Structure and Function of Feeding and Digestion of Lebertia ...................................45 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................45 Background ............................................................................................................................46 Materials and Methods ...........................................................................................................48 Results ....................................................................................................................................53 Discussion ..............................................................................................................................66 Chapter 5: Morphological Identification and COI Barcodes of Adult Flies Help Determine Species Identities of Chironomid Larvae .................................................72 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................72 Introduction ............................................................................................................................73 Materials and Methods ...........................................................................................................75 Results and Conclusions .........................................................................................................79 Discussion ..............................................................................................................................86 Future Research Needs ...........................................................................................................92 Section A: Chironomid Biodiversity Beyond Lake Erie ........................................................94 Section B - Eurytemora carolleeae in the Laurentian Great Lakes Revealed by Phylogenetic and Morphological Analysis. .......................................................96 Abstract ............................................................................................................................96 Introduction ......................................................................................................................96 Methods ............................................................................................................................99